If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You will be required to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Comment

Can I make a suggestion, having a vast experience in battery technology and cordless tools?

Stay away from any tools that use Moli Energy cells for batteries because they have a very short life span (400 cycles). That includes Ridgid, Ryobi, AEG and Milwaukee tools.

Stay away from tools that use Sony / Konion cells, such as Makita, Porter Cable, Bosch, Hitachi. They have a short life and are very sensitive to temperatures and overloads. If you use hole saws, forstner or auger bits with 1.5 Ah batteries, you are actively damaging your batteries.

Both "camps" use batteries that are unsuitable for power tools and have been "tweaked" to output high currents at the expense of shelf life, cycle life and capacity. Current li-ion technology is very young and is an intermediate step just like Makita's NiMH batteries. You will see in the near future there will be changes, battery formats will stay the same but chargers and battery chemistry will change again.

I can't stress this enough that if you are a pro the only economically feasible battery technology for today is Li-nanophosphate, and the only 2 brands that use it is Dewalt Nano and Black&Decker VPX. I'm saying this not because I'm a Dewalt fan (i'm not) but because technically their (well, they are made by A123 Systems) batteries have 2 or even 3 times the cycle life of any other battery on the market and are the only batteries that are fully suitable for power tool applications.

Of course that doesn't mean that you shouldn't consider any other brands. For an occasional user Ryobi will do just fine. I personally like Bosch PS40 impact and Milwaukee hackzall. I'll probably end up buying a hackzall and hacking it to use A123 cells. That will be an UBER tool then.

As for impacts, get Milwaukee 12v, Bosch PS40, Makita BTP140 hybrid or Dewalt 18v DC827 (in order of performance and price). If you can wait, I highly recommend to wait and buy a 14.4 Dewalt Li-Ion impact. You can buy them in europe but they are not available in North America yet. 14.4 Nano impact is the most lightweight, reliable, powerful and long-lasting driver in the world.

Comment

Ray - I can tell right now that your gift list must be waayyyyyy bigger than mine and what I can afford. :-) Kinda wish I was on it for that Makita set. LOL! You made me go to dictionary with that "challanged eyesight that we chronologically enhanced fellows" statement. That liked to have gotten by me, but luckily I'm a little smarter than the average bear. LOL!

Anyway, appreciate all the help and info, and have a good and safe holiday period for you and yours.

DRC-Wartex - appreciate all the lastest battery technology updates. Good to know.

Y'all have a nice Thanksgiving, heeah.

Comment

I just want to say when I complained about the 2- 24V kits [battery/chg] that I had that were defective and when they worked were poor performers some thought I was just bashing. I have been waiting for a new 24v battery starter but I think that will never happen. This max select is a bad idea from the start and now I have tools with slow running motors designed for 24v and I have to use 18v nicads . You can see how poor the 24v did in the TOTT test. I should have gone with my instincts and stayed away from Ridgid cordless as I did in the past. I will say that the 9.6v screwdriver and 18v jig saw[not max select] are very good

Hello All,
I know it's probably been asked before but what is all you folks' take on which PRO impact driver is the best bet. Don't want anything but Lithium Ion. Currently we have some R851150 24v Ridgid drills. Have had milwaukees also. The ridgids have been so, so. We had to replace 3 combo kits already, still under 90 days. And our current combo kits sometimes act erratic. When using the drill, the battery will just die for no known reason, put it back on the charger and it will instantly go up to 4 bars and be good for hours. Crazy, no ryme or reason to it and you never know when it's going to happen. Not good when you're up 25' on a slippery metal roof with a average to steep pitch. And it's a WORK OUT just to keep from sliding off. MUST be a Murphy law thing(?)! We have noticed that if you are drill a hole that requires ALOT of torque that the batteries will seem to "DRAIN" momentarily but if you let them sit for a moment they will go back up.
I'm not really "sold" on any brand. I have to admit though by now we own quite a few ridgid tools and over all they have been excellent. I've owned and still do, a lot of different brands. Bosch, Skil(their 77s, not any of the other junk), hilti, ridgid, dewalt(bad luck), Makita( old stuff, good, newer stuff, bad luck,post 1990) Porter Cable(used to be good, won't buy any more)Milwaukee. I still have a DeWalt from the 60s(?), when they were part of AMF. (It,s a radial arm) So, what say ye?

Shug.....
1-Pro impact driver?......http://www.toolsofthetrade.net/indus...05143&artnum=1 Based on our experiance I wouold agree with the results of the test. we have a couple of the Ridgid Max select impacts and they are barely adaquate when used with 24V batts and useless with the 18V batts.
The Makita impacts I have used have been excellent performers.
2-You don't say what problems are causing you to return the Ridgid 24V sets.
We have a couple of those sets and work all the tools hard and have had good performance with a couple of cautions.
1-In cold weather the batteries can not be left overnight in a truck or they will require a "reset" in a charger before use.
2-The circ saw will stall very easily which rapidly leads to the battery kicking out which then requires a reset in the charger before further use.
We have used the drill to drive large lag bolts, large hole saws, large augers and other power hungry applications and I don't remember any overheating "kickouts". What are you drilling when the failures occur?.....Ray

Comment

Good points, Ray. As I have said, why would you put a 24v motor and expect the tools to perform at 18v well??? It is like running a tool on a weak battery even when it is fully charged. That is why the performance is so poor and all the heat was produced in the tool test.
They also do not sell the 24V batteries except at $200 in the starter kit for 1 batt./1 chg. and online at HD , not in the store. In pinch you might want to run an 18v battery if your 24 V batteries were charging, but not as the main useage battery. The test was with an 18v battery , they also could have run a 24V Li I but as said they are not available, maybe they also could not buy one.
My older 18v Impact works very well, is heavy though with a NiCad and would have scored OK with an 18V LiI battery but that tool is not sold anymore.
Whoever is running the MKTG. on this tool line has no clue. The older 18v tools all worked well[except the recip. saw], it is the Max select ones that are bad using an 18v battery. They need to bring the 24V starter kits back to HD and at a price less than $200. to make these tools useable.